Recounting Memories: Chicken Nuggets
One night I was driving back to a friend's place, where I was staying at. It was a nice night in northern California. I must have been very snackish, borderline hungry because I wanted to buy a box of 20 pieces of chicken nuggets and also share with my friend back at her place. Mind you, I don't usually eat fast food, and I definitely don't usually buy 20 pieces of chicken nuggets, but the idea was stuck in my mind to buy some!
It was past the usual dinner hour and I was getting in later than usual, perhaps past 10 or 11 pm?
I saw the golden arches from a distance on my right hand side and thought to myself, 'Perfect! I'll just pick some up.'
There was no one in line and I drove up to the intercom. The voice that answered through the speaker box sounded indifferent and for some reason I thought to myself, 'Do I really want to order fast food this late at night?' I've heard a tale or two of how bored or disgruntled workers treat food at late hours of the night.
I dismissed the thought and could see another car drive up behind me. As I pulled up to the payment window, a thought came to mind,
'You should pay for the car behind you. Pay-it-forward.'
'Hmmm, what a great idea!'
I wondered how the other car would react, but happy just to think about spreading kindness around. After paying for my purchase, I told the worker that I wanted to pay for the car behind me as well. He didn't really seem to care as I purchased the second order and asked me to park to the side since the nuggets were going to take 10 minutes.
As I parked to the side, I could see from my side mirror the interaction of the car behind me pulling up and speaking to the worker. It must have been 5 minutes but it seemed like it took forever. Then, I saw the worker point towards my car, and more discussion was going on. The car slowly drove passed to see if they could see who was in the driver's seat. I couldn't tell if they waved or not, but they drove away.
Then I could see the worker from the drive-thru window motion me to come back. He asked me,
"Did you know those people?"
"No." I answered.
"They were really confused. I thought you were their friend, so I told them, 'Your friend paid for you' and they were really confused."
"Oh no. I just wanted to pay for their meal."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Why did you do that?"
A rush of thoughts ran through my head... a lot about the gospel, booklets and tracks of evangelism, so much info... but what came out of my mouth was...
"I'm just spreading goodness. Paying it forward. There so much negative stuff happening in the world. I just want to be a light."
The worker seemed very surprised at my answer and paused for a moment. He then apologized and asked me very politely if I could wait another 10 minutes because the nuggets had to be redone. I told him no problem and re-parked again. For some strange reason, I felt like he felt conviction from our conversation and wanted to make me a fresh batch of chicken nuggets.
He waved me in a second time and told me that they were freshly made. Unfortunately he had no more sauces, but I thanked him and drove away satisfied because something happened that night. I don't know what exactly but I felt a difference in me, in that car, in the worker. I asked God for more opportunities like this.
A part of me really wishes that I spoke about Jesus, but another part of me was realizing that being a light is not always making Jesus a campaign to people. Part of me believes that being a light is just to shine. From Jesus' character and spirit, He was shining everywhere He went. No campaigning. Mostly people came/were drawn to Him, He blessed those along the way (also speaking truth in love) and intentionally sought after lost sheep.
If this were to happen again, I don't think I would have any problem speaking about Jesus, but I don't think I would have the pressure of evangelism either.
I think I would rather be a blessing to the world (even if I don't speak about Jesus) without striving and having people thinking I'm making a project out of them...or the better option, be me and speak about Jesus, whom I love so much I can't help but share His goodness.
It was past the usual dinner hour and I was getting in later than usual, perhaps past 10 or 11 pm?
I saw the golden arches from a distance on my right hand side and thought to myself, 'Perfect! I'll just pick some up.'
There was no one in line and I drove up to the intercom. The voice that answered through the speaker box sounded indifferent and for some reason I thought to myself, 'Do I really want to order fast food this late at night?' I've heard a tale or two of how bored or disgruntled workers treat food at late hours of the night.
I dismissed the thought and could see another car drive up behind me. As I pulled up to the payment window, a thought came to mind,
'You should pay for the car behind you. Pay-it-forward.'
'Hmmm, what a great idea!'
I wondered how the other car would react, but happy just to think about spreading kindness around. After paying for my purchase, I told the worker that I wanted to pay for the car behind me as well. He didn't really seem to care as I purchased the second order and asked me to park to the side since the nuggets were going to take 10 minutes.
As I parked to the side, I could see from my side mirror the interaction of the car behind me pulling up and speaking to the worker. It must have been 5 minutes but it seemed like it took forever. Then, I saw the worker point towards my car, and more discussion was going on. The car slowly drove passed to see if they could see who was in the driver's seat. I couldn't tell if they waved or not, but they drove away.
Then I could see the worker from the drive-thru window motion me to come back. He asked me,
"Did you know those people?"
"No." I answered.
"They were really confused. I thought you were their friend, so I told them, 'Your friend paid for you' and they were really confused."
"Oh no. I just wanted to pay for their meal."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Why did you do that?"
A rush of thoughts ran through my head... a lot about the gospel, booklets and tracks of evangelism, so much info... but what came out of my mouth was...
"I'm just spreading goodness. Paying it forward. There so much negative stuff happening in the world. I just want to be a light."
The worker seemed very surprised at my answer and paused for a moment. He then apologized and asked me very politely if I could wait another 10 minutes because the nuggets had to be redone. I told him no problem and re-parked again. For some strange reason, I felt like he felt conviction from our conversation and wanted to make me a fresh batch of chicken nuggets.
He waved me in a second time and told me that they were freshly made. Unfortunately he had no more sauces, but I thanked him and drove away satisfied because something happened that night. I don't know what exactly but I felt a difference in me, in that car, in the worker. I asked God for more opportunities like this.
A part of me really wishes that I spoke about Jesus, but another part of me was realizing that being a light is not always making Jesus a campaign to people. Part of me believes that being a light is just to shine. From Jesus' character and spirit, He was shining everywhere He went. No campaigning. Mostly people came/were drawn to Him, He blessed those along the way (also speaking truth in love) and intentionally sought after lost sheep.
If this were to happen again, I don't think I would have any problem speaking about Jesus, but I don't think I would have the pressure of evangelism either.
I think I would rather be a blessing to the world (even if I don't speak about Jesus) without striving and having people thinking I'm making a project out of them...or the better option, be me and speak about Jesus, whom I love so much I can't help but share His goodness.
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